


Nervousness

by AmaranthPrincess21



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-05-19
Packaged: 2018-03-31 06:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3967348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmaranthPrincess21/pseuds/AmaranthPrincess21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bertolt sometimes speaks before he thinks and after he agrees to have dinner with you and your friends with the intent of asking you on a date afterwards, he realizes that he may have bitten off more than he can chew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nervousness

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request from DA user Erza-mao.

"One, two, hit, prep! Just-a-triple catch! [First], make your preps more dramatic! You're never going to throw a good triple if you have shallow preps. Toss me your sabre and I'll demonstrate," color guard captain Annie Leonhart said, hand outstretched as she waited for your sabre. Bertolt sat with the rest of the cheer team, watching as Annie gave you pointers.

"You're staring again, Bert." The brunet jumped as his friend Reiner joined him, the two standing on the track. "Staring's not going to get you anywhere. If you wanna get somewhere with [First] you gotta ask her out," Reiner advised. Bertolt sighed and shook his head.

"I can't do that! She'll say no!” he protested.

“You don’t know that for sure. You’ll only know when you man up and ask her out,” Reiner told him. 

“I just don’t want to get rejected,” Bertolt sighed.

“She’s not going to reject you,” Reiner tried to convince his friend, but his friendly glance was met with a skeptical one.

“You don’t know that,” Bertolt pointed out. “She could turn me down. You never know.” 

“And you’ll never know whether she’ll say yes unless you go for it!” Reiner but his hands on Bertolt’s shoulders. “Come on, man. You can do this. Just go and do it.”

“All right, I’ll ask her out once practice is over,” Bertolt caved. Already he could feel nerves tearing at his stomach and the feeling didn’t go away during practice.

Their coach dismissed them and by the looks of it, the color guard got out of practice early, waiting around the stadium’s ticket booth to get picked up. Annie and a few other color guard members were standing together, spinning their rifles together and talking as you sat on the asphalt, reading a book.  _I shouldn’t bother her, she’s getting homework done,_ he thought with a twinge of guilt. But as luck would have it, you glanced up from your book and gave him a warm smile.

“Hi Bertl!” you greeted him cheerfully.

“Hey, [First],” he replied, sitting down next to you. “H-how did practice go?”

“It went well. Same old, same old. What about you? You guys looked like you were doing some extreme lifts today,” you said. 

“They weren’t that bad,” he tried to brush it off. “So, uh, are you ready for the football game tomorrow?” 

“Yeah, I think I’m ready,” you said. “I’m looking forward to the halftime show and then Denny’s afterwards. You’re going, right?” 

“You bet I am!” The words were out of his mouth before he really realized what he’d just committed to. A large smile lit up your face.

“Awesome! I’m looking forward to that!” you said as a car pulled up. Your face fell a little. “Ah, that’s my ride.” Getting to your feet, you gave him another warm look that melted his heart and made his legs feel like jelly. “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Bertolt!”

“See you then, [First],” he said with a small wave goodbye. As soon as he got in his car he called up Reiner.

“I-I think I messed up,” he said as soon as his blond friend picked up.

“How? Did she say no?” he asked incredulously.

“No, she didn’t say no. Well, I mean technically she didn’t. I got nervous and she asked if I was going to Denny’s once the game is over and I said yes, and now -”

“And now you’re regretting saying you were?”

“I can’t go to Denny’s after the game! I can’t go have dinner with her! What if someone sees us and embarrasses me? What if someone else interrupts our dinner and asks her out? What if -”

“Bertolt, take some deep breaths,” Reiner cut in calmly. “You’re going to start hyperventilating if you keep panicking like this. Just take a few deep breaths.” He paused and let his brunet friend inhale and exhale slowly. “From the sounds of it, I don’t think it’s a one on one dinner. You’ll probably be eating with her and everyone else that shows up to Denny’s tomorrow night. It’ll be fine. You are going to be fine.”

“I don’t know if I want to go anymore. I just don’t want to royally mess up,” Bertolt sighed.

“You’re not going to mess up. You’re psyching yourself out, man. It’s dinner and you’ll have other people there to take up some slack conversation-wise. Not to mention it’d be good for you to go. Bertolt, you can do this. I believe in you.” Bertolt bit his lip. If he could through the night, maybe he’d work up the guts to ask you out. And Reiner had a point; even if he didn’t, it would still be good to get out and he’d get to spend time with you. 

“I . . . I’m going to go. I’m doing this,” he said after a long silence. 

  
  


Like most footballs games, it was loud and cold. Bertolt was glad when it ended because it meant getting out of the cold, but the pit of his stomach was wracked with nausea as he drove over to Denny’s. He waited in his car for you and the rest of your friends to arrive. _You can do this, Bertolt,_ he told himself firmly. _You aren’t going to mess up. You’re going to have a good night and by the end of the night, you’ll ask her out._ A tapping sound on his window made him jump a mile. You stood outside of his car, looking curiously at him. 

“Sorry if I scared you. I thought you saw me,” you apologized as he got out of his car. 

“It’s fine,” he waved it away. Locking his car, he followed you and your friends into the restaurant. There were a lot of students there already, but no other cheerleaders. Denny’s after a football game was primarily a band and color guard thing and although he wasn’t close to any of his teammates outside of Reiner, he wished he had someone he knew somewhat for support. 

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get a word in any conversation. Your friends dominated discussions and all you could do was shoot him apologetic looks when the other color guard members cut off his replies. His nervousness slowly melted away and was replaced with fear.  _What if I can’t get a word in for the rest of the night,_ he fretted.  _This was the worst decision I’ve ever made. What was I thinking? I can’t even talk to her and now I’m stuck at an awkward dinner. Why did I do this to myself? I’m not going to ask her out; I’m not even going to get a chance to talk to her. God, what do I do? Do I sit here? Do I ask her to go outside with me and we can talk then? Should I just go home?_ Anxiety controlled his mind now, so deep in his own thoughts and worries he missed the concerned looks you were giving him. He put his syrup-covered fork down and stood up.

“I’ll be back,” Bertolt excused himself, pushing his chair back and hurrying to the front of the restaurant. He dropped himself onto a bench and pulled out his phone, dialing Reiner’s number. 

“Is everything okay?” Reiner asked immediately.

“This is going terribly,” Bertolt lamented. “Her friends and I feel awkward around each other and I haven’t been able to get a word in edgewise. I haven’t been able to say two words to her, let alone get her attention. It’s like fate looked at me and said, ‘no, we can’t let him be happy.’” 

“Then really get in there, Bert. You just have to assert yourself,” Reiner said.

“I can’t do that! That’d be rude. This was just a mistake. It was -”

“Bertolt?” He let out a slight shriek at the sound of your voice, quickly hanging up on Reiner. 

“[First]?! What are you doing out here?” he inquired. 

“I thought it was strange how you left all of a sudden, so I came out here to make sure you were okay,” you explained, sitting beside him.

“H-how long have you been out here?”

“Long enough. I overheard most of your call. Sorry. I tried not to overhear but it was hard not to,” you said, sitting beside him. 

“I-I-I didn’t mean it . . . I d-didn’t mean this was a mistake. I’m so sorry, I -”

“No, it’s fine. I should be the one apologizing. I didn’t realize my friends would alienate you like that,” you told him. “And I haven’t been the greatest at giving you attention either.” He remained silent; there was no denying that.

“M-maybe we . . . we could have a one on one dinner sometime,” he stuttered, heart pounding hard in his chest. 

“You mean like a date?” you asked.

“I, yes, like a date,” he replied. His heart stopped when you grinned, a giggle escaping your lips.

“I’d really like that,” you told him. “I’d really enjoy a date with you, Bertolt.” 

“Really?!” You laughed and elbowed his arm.

“Yeah, I really would. Come on, let’s go back inside. I promise I’ll give you more attention,” you said, standing up and reaching out to him. He grabbed your hand and got up. As you led him back inside he went back to his phone call with Reiner.

“I’m going to have to call you back,” Bertolt told his friend with a large grin on his face. “I’ve got a date to arrange.”

  



End file.
